This invention relates to suspension assembly for a motor vehicle to support a wheel, including a horizontally mounted damper assembly.
Typically, a suspension system for a motor vehicle includes a wheel pivotally attached to a vehicle frame such that the wheel will move in a substantially vertical direction in response to an uneven road surface. One type of conventional suspension system includes upper and lower control arms pivotally connected to a frame member of the motor vehicle. A link commonly referred to as a knuckle, or kingpin is pivotally attached to both the upper and lower control arms and includes an axle assembly to which the vehicle wheel is mounted. This general suspension assembly configuration may be used for front or rear suspension assemblies. The control arms allow vertical movement of the wheel relative to the motor vehicle frame. A damper is typically mounted substantially parallel to vertical movement of the wheel and attached to one or both of the control arms to dampen sudden jolts by an uneven road.
A vertically mounted damper assembly imposes several design challenges to motor vehicle manufactures. Vertically mounted damper assemblies consume space that could otherwise be used in the cargo or passenger compartments. In an effort to reduce vertical space requirements for the damper assembly, suspension assemblies with horizontally mounted damper assemblies have been developed. However, horizontally mounted damper assemblies currently available are not easily adaptable to current motor vehicle configurations. For these reasons there is a need for a suspension system with a horizontally mounted damper assembly adaptable to current motor vehicle configurations.
The invention is a suspension assembly for motor vehicles including a wheel assembly movably mounted to the motor vehicle with a damper or spring arranged substantially horizontal. The suspension assembly includes an upper and lower control arm pivotally attached to the frame of the motor vehicle and a knuckle arm pivotally attached to the upper and lower control arms. The knuckle arm includes an axle to which the wheel is mounted. This entire assembly is movable vertically upon the wheel encountering an uneven road surface. Attached to one of the control arms is an actuation arm. A damper assembly mounted horizontally and within a cylinder member is actuated in response to vertical movement of the wheel. An actuation arm disposed on one of the control arms is pivotally attached to an actuation link of the damper assembly such that vertical movement of the control arm actuates the horizontally positioned damper assembly.
An additional embodiment of the suspension assembly includes a flexible link pivotally attached to the upper control arm at a first end and to the damper assembly at a second end. A pulley is mounted to the frame member and the flexible link is routed about the pulley to change vertical motion of the control arm into horizontal motion to actuate the damper assembly disposed within the frame member. A plate disposed on the control arm includes a progressive profile that engages the flexible link such that the amount of pull to actuate the damper assembly relative to vertical movement of the control arm is progressively increased.
The suspension assembly of this invention provides for the horizontal mounting of the damper assembly by converting the vertical motion of the wheel to horizontal motion to actuate the damper assembly, thereby providing a simple adaptable suspension assembly.